Lando Norris is confident in the work he has done on his starts ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix, as he looks to improve a poor record of converting pole positions into a lead.
The McLaren driver has started from pole position — or first in a Sprint — on five occasions, but has never led the opening lap of the race. The latest example came in Budapest where Norris dropped to third at the start, and ahead of a race where he will start from pole position ahead of Max Verstappen, he admits he has been working on his getaways but doesn’t believe it is a particular weakness.
“I know my starts have not been my forté over the last [few chances],” Norris said. “They’ve not been bad, honestly. I’ve still been up there with being one of the best average starters, I’ve just missed out at a couple of races.
“It’s maybe looked worse than it’s been over the course of a season but there’s a couple of times it’s not been where they need to be — it’s been a couple of times when I’ve been on the front row. It’s not been for any certain reason; it’s been different things each time. But I feel confident I’ve put in a lot of work to make my starts a bit better and tomorrow’s a new day.”
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The fact that Norris has failed to convert pole position into a lead so far doesn’t play on the Briton’s mind, however, as he insists the previous starts don’t impact him once he’s on the grid.
“Honestly, stats to me don’t mean a lot. You kind of get respect with stats and you lose respect, maybe, with certain stats. Just numbers on a screen honestly don’t mean a lot from that perspective to me. Of course I care but they don’t mean a lot — they don’t impact me.
“It’s like the overtaking awards and stuff — you’re always going to overtake more when you qualify terribly and you’re going to have more chance to go forward. I’ve started towards the front a lot of times and I know my stats aren’t the best for that — more often than not I’ve gone backwards rather than holding positions, but that’s just what I’ve done so far and I’ve worked hard — and am working hard — to try and change that.
“It’s not something that affects me — I’m not going to try and go out tomorrow to suddenly prove people wrong or something. I’m just going to crack on and do what I’m going to do.
“People can write what they want; they can have their own opinions. A lot of these things are true and are facts to people but it’s more just use them to my advantage and improve on my weaknesses, simple as that.”